The Game ordered to pay $5 million to US police officers

Rapper told by court to give cash to police who appeared in his film 'Stop Snitching/Stop Lying'

The Game has been ordered to pay $5 million (£3.1 million) to US police officers who appeared in his 2005 film Stop Snitching/Stop Lying.

ABC4 says that an appeal court in North Carolina has upheld a decision made by another court in 2010 and will force the rapper to hand over the cash to the officers, who were featured in scenes for the promotional DVD of a mixtape he released in 2005.

Police had claimed that they had been filmed without their permission after they were captured arresting the hip-hop star at a shopping mall in North Carolina, and subsequently launched a lawsuit for defamation of character.

They are also seeking $10 million (£6.3 million) in punitive damages, according to Taletela.com, but the judge ruled that the issue should be taken up in a separate trial.

Earlier this week, The Game sparked a Twitter row over homophobia with celebrity blogger Perez Hilton (February 20). Hilton criticised the rapper for posting “hateful and homophobic” messages on his Twitter account but the rapper replied by insisting his posts were “just comedy”.

Their spat came shortly after A$AP Rocky spoke out over the issue of homophobia in hip-hop and claimed that the genre will “fail” unless artist become more open-minded about sexuality. The rapper – real name Rakim Mayers – said that while pop “doesn’t discriminate against people”, hip-hop is “so retarded” when it comes to issues of sexuality and homophobia.